The beautifully engineered, iconic and heroically fast Porsche 911 is the ultimate sports car
The rear-drive Carrera S is a pleasure to drive fast or slow
WHEN people want something, they’ll pay for it.
If Stella was £8 a pint, as much as we’d grumble, pubs wouldn’t be emptier.
If 20 Lambert & Butler were £15, people would still smoke.
If a 911 was ten per cent extra (as it could be after a hard Brexit), you still wouldn’t blink.
Porsche has achieved that level of desirability. If you had Porsche money, you’d buy a Porsche.
Simple as. Ask any motoring journalist what car they’d want on their drive and they’d say 911.
Trying to be clever and saying something else is like a toddler saying they prefer a bag of carrots over Haribo. It’s just not true.
Quite simply, the 911 is the most usable sports car on the planet. Beautifully engineered. Iconic. Seductive. And heroically fast.
Incredibly, this rear-drive Carrera S will be the second slowest 911 in the new line-up but I’d argue it is all you need.
It’s so precise and perfect, it’s a pleasure to drive fast or slow, over long or short distances, even on broken B-roads.
Sorry. You want numbers?
The 3-litre twin-turbo flat six has been given a 30hp boost to 450 horses and can box off 0-99mph in a licence-shredding 8.1 seconds.
There’s an extra ratio in the eight-speed PDK twin-clutch gearbox for efficiency — but you’ll hit the 191mph top speed in sixth. Seventh and eighth is for motorway cruising.
The bellhousing has room for a hybrid motor later. It rolls on mixed wheels, 20in at the front, 21in at the rear. Other observations. This eighth-gen 911 is newer than it looks.
Only 15 per cent is carried over from the old car. The narrow body has been scrapped. The Carrera S now has the same swollen arches as the four-wheel drive Carrera 4S.
Extra marks for going back to the squared-edge bonnet.The rear wing is 25 per cent bigger and doubles as an air brake.
Wet mode deserves a paragraph of its own. Microphones in the front wheel arches listen for water spray and then dial in the appropriate settings for engine and gearbox, as well as alerting the driver.
Finally, the interior. Four letters: L U S and H. The horizontal dash is a nod to 911s of old and the analogue rev counter is now flanked by two digital screens.
As well as a 10.9in central touchscreen. Extra extra marks for the seats in this test car — they’re reminiscent of the Pasha interiors from the 1970s.
And another thing. Make sure you tick the box for the £1,600 Sport Chrono Package — or in other words the drive mode switch on the steering wheel.
It has a sport response button for 20 seconds of full party mode. You can use it as often as you want. And you will.
With so many choices — R8, Vantage, AMG GT, F-Type et al — it’s easy to forget how brilliant and how fast a 911 is. Just six Lotto numbers short last night or I’d have one in a heartbeat.
KEY FACTS
PORSCHE 911 CARRERA S
Price: £93,110
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo flat six
Power: 450hp, 530Nm
0-62mph: 3.5secs
0-99mph: 8.1secs
Top speed: 191mph
Economy: 32mpg
CO2: 204g/km
Out: April
New SUVs releases
JUST the three new SUVs revealed this week. First up, the Hyundai Tucson N Line. Nice PE kit but no extra power. Out June, priced around £26,500.
Special N bumpers and grille, 19in black alloys, privacy glass, sporty seats, sharper steering, stiffer suspension. If you are going to buy a Tucson, this is the one.
No word on a full-fat Tucson N yet. The next N car will be the i20 N, out next year.
Now let’s go over to Planet Mercedes, where SUVs are multiplying faster than a wet Gremlin. They’ll soon be up to ten.
GLA, GLC, GLC Coupe, GLE, GLE Coupe, GLS, G-Class, EQC, Maybach GLS and the as-yet unseen GLB. And . . . breathe.
The updated GLC Coupe, goes on sale in May, priced from £37,500. You’ll find one crammed in the corner of a showroom.
Finally, Porsche Cayenne Coupe. Does the world need another fast SUV? Absolutely not. But it’s a Porsche? OK, yes please.
Porsche makes a ton of money from SUVs and this will keep the big chiefs in silk socks.
The standard Coupe starts at £62,129 and the Turbo costs £104,729. Out May.
Both cars will be magnificent to drive, obviously.
MOST READ IN MOTORS
Samuel Jackson: top blagger
Hollywood star. Gazillionaire. And now top blagger.
He’s borrowed this Audi Q8 for a month while filming Hitman’s Bodyguard 2 in London. Legend.
FERRARI FACTS
FERRARI spent four years creating this incredible one-of-a-kind track car, based on the 488 GT3, for a very rich person.
Then ruined it with blue seats. Fools.
SATURDAY. Howard Donald (Take That) and Dario Franchitti (track god) front Mission Ignition on C4, 8.30pm. Two teams battle to win their dream car by rebuilding it first.
SUNDAY. Clocks go forward. Mother’s Day. Liverpool v Spurs. Bahrain F1 GP. And a world-record attempt for the biggest parade of . . . Volvo cars. Yes, really. If you want to get involved, go to volvo600.co.uk. Everyone else, as you were.
- GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL [email protected]